RC GIANT SCALE
Tony Kirchenkո’s Jerry Bates-Designed A5M Claude
Tony Kirchenko, of Setauket, New York, built this beautifully flying 1/4-scale Mitsubishi A5M4 Claude from Jerry Bates Plans using a short kit from Bob Holman Plans. The cowling, wheel pants, and canopy came from Vic Catalan.
The model spans 108 inches, with a length of 74.5 inches and a weight of approximately 40 pounds. Tony powers the A5M4 with a DLE-120 twin-cylinder gas engine. The landing gear is Robart #684 5/8-inch diameter RoboStruts and the tires were 3D-printed by his good friend, Jim McQueen.
Tony used 1-ounce fiberglass cloth, Zap finishing resin from Nick Ziroli Plans, and Klass Kote epoxy paint to complete the model. Red 5 Designs supplied all of the graphics. Great job, Tony, on an amazing-looking and flying model.
The A5M Claude was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, who later designed the infamous Mitsubishi Zero fighter. It fought in the war with China and against Chinese and Russian pilots. It has the distinction of being the world’s first carrier-borne monoplane fighter and the first monoplane to enter service with the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Gerry Yarrish’s Nieuport 24
Next up is Gerry Yarrish, of New Milford, Connecticut, with his own CAD-designed, scratch-built Nieuport 24. He used CAD to make parts on his laser cutter and CNC machine.
The model is 27.5% scale with an 87-inch wingspan and a length of 63.5 inches. It is powered by an RCGF Stinger 52 twin-cylinder gas engine. The all-up weight is 24 pounds, with 6 pounds of lead in the nose for balance. Gerry covered the model with Stits covering material and Poly-Tone paint from F&M Enterprises. Red 5 Designs made all of the markings.
The Nieuport 24 was the last of the sesquiplanes and replaced the Nieuport 17. However, the Nieuport 24 did not offer any greater improvement in performance over the Nieuport 17. It was not used in great numbers but was flown by many countries.
SOURCES:
Micro Fasteners
(800) 892-6917
www.microfasteners.com
Jerry Bates Plans
www.jbplans.com
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
www.bhplans.com
Robart Mfg., Inc.
(630) 584-7616
www.robart.com
Phoenix Models
contact@phoenixmodel.com
www.phoenixmodel.com
Dualsky
retail@dualsky.com
http://shop.dualsky.com
Castle Creations
(913) 390-6939
https://home.castlecreations.com
Nick Ziroli Plans
(631) 467-4765
www.ziroligiantscaleplans.com
Red 5 Designs
(516) 353-8860
www.red5designs.com
Stinger Engines/RCGF USA
(520) 732-2200
www.rcgfusa.com
F&M Enterprises
(817) 279-8045
www.stits.com
Klass Kote
(612) 243-1234
www.klasskote.com
Horizon Hobby
www.horizonhobby.com
Ziroli Taube
Last but certainly not least, the man, the myth, the legend, Nick Ziroli Sr., is shown with his son, Nick Ziroli Jr., at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome during the 2023 Old Rhinebeck RC Jamboree in Red Hook, New York. They’re pictured with one of Nick’s early designs, the Taube, which spans 88 inches.
In addition to his father’s plans, Nick Jr. offers plans and accessories from many other well-known designers.
That’s all for now. Please have a safe and happy holiday season.
By Greg Schutte | gshooty@yahoo.com
ONE OF THE THINGS that I experience when writing this column is the subject matter. I find myself going in so many directions that it can be overwhelming.
I had been writing a piece on the weather for my column. That article was based on a conversation I had with Ken Hawkins one day while flying. I needed some pictures for that article, and Swan Falls is a local flying site that has the most extreme weather in my area.
On the way home that day, I had a conversation with my daughter about an idea I had seen online. It got me thinking about all of the times I’m not on the hill and end up talking about Slope Soaring, so I’m going to shelve the weather article and talk about some of those encounters.
But first, let’s discuss Swan Falls.
One of the best and worst places to fly for me locally is Swan Falls because the weather conditions are extreme. The Swan Falls dam is located south of Kuna, Idaho. The 800-foot ridge is basically the Snake River canyon rim. The valley opens downstream after a couple of miles and the valley wind funnels up the canyon.
At Swan Falls, the canyon turns south, which creates a west-facing rim. Because the canyon rim is mostly black lava rock, it really cooks in the sun. The wind gets extremely trashy in the middle of the day from all of the thermal activity. I don’t like flying it in the hot summer months—it’s a complete blast furnace—but later in the year, when the temperature starts to drop, Swan Falls calms down and is a really nice place to fly.
My 25-year-old Combat wing and my A-10 both had good flights. It was approximately 1 p.m. and the wind was cycling from 10 to 35 mph. There was plenty of active piloting going on. I flew each airplane for roughly 20 minutes.
There are two local AMA clubs with flying fields in my area. One is the Nampa Model Aviators and the other one is the Boise Area Radio Kontrol Society (BARKS). I don’t really fly any powered aircraft except for my RC helicopter and some small indoor airplanes.
When I first got into the sport 25 years ago, I had some bad interactions with club members while visiting the airfields. After those encounters, I never thought about joining again. I recently upgraded my helicopter to a larger size and was having some problems. I’m a self-taught pilot and realized that I needed some mentoring—crashing stinks!
Since those early years, I have gotten to know some of the local club pilots. I posted on the local RC Facebook pages and Jim Thompson, a representative of HeliDirect, responded. Jim can fly a helicopter better than I can keep my jaw from hitting the ground while watching him. After we talked, I brought up the fact that I mainly slope soar. Apparently, Jim has a couple of Slope Soaring airplanes collecting dust under all of that helicopter stuff in his garage. Thank you again, Jim, for the wisdom and helpful insight. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
A couple of other members showed up, and by the end of the day, I found out that most of them have Slope airplanes as well. Donald Bailey was one of those pilots.
